Current Situation of GNSS Networks in Romania

Nowadays, the need for a more precise positioning is a very high, therefore very demanding one, and this is one of the reasons why very large research funding is allocated in satellite technology, the second reason being global geopolitics situation. New satellite constellations are being developed existing satellites that have completed their mission are being replaced with satellites that incorporate technology far superior to their predecessors. Currently we have four constellations with global coverage, NAVSTAR-GPS and Glonass, Galileo and Compass. With the development of these global satellite systems, it is also necessary to develop the user segment, so this requires terrestrial reference stations to be updated to recognize the new signals from them. The article presents the situation of the global satellite systems and the situation of the permanent reference networks in Romania, which are developed by state or private companies

Non-invasive laboratory, imaging and elastography markers in predicting varices with high risk of bleeding in cirrhotic patients

Introduction. Upper digestive tract endoscopy remains the gold-standard for detecting esophageal or gastric varices and assessment of bleeding risk, but this method is invasive. The aim of the study was to identify non-invasive factors that could be incorporated into an algorithm for estimating the risk of variceal bleeding

The Role of Noninvasive 13C-Octanoate Breath Test in Assessing the Diagnosis of Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Background: The diagnosis of NASH needs a liver biopsy, an invasive procedure that is not frequently accepted by patients. The aim of our study was to evaluate the efficacy of the 13C-Octanoate breath test (OBT) as a non-invasive surrogate marker to differentiate patients with NASH from patients with simple steatosis (NAFL). Methods: We performed a prospective study on patients with histologically established non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and no other hepatic disease. Each patient underwent a testing protocol, which included a clinical exam, laboratory blood tests, standard abdominal ultrasound, and a 13C-Octanoate breath test. Results: The study group included: 82 patients with steatohepatitis, 64 patients with simple steatosis, and 21 healthy volunteers. The univariate and bivariate analysis identified that significant values were the percent dose recovery (PDR) at 15 min—r = 0.65 (AUROC = 0.902) and cumulative percent dose recovery (cPDR) at 120 min—r = 0.69 (AUROC = 0.899). Discussion: Our study showed that 13C-OBT had good efficacy for identifying patients with NASH from those with NAFL (steatosis alone) but not those with NAFL from healthy subjects. Considering all these pathogenic steps in NASH we considered that OBT could have the clinical utility to identify patients at risk for NASH, especially “fast progressors”

10 PW Peak Power Laser at the Extreme Light Infrastructure Nuclear Physics – status updates

We have shown, for the first time in the world, the production of 10 PW peak power laser pulses and their propagation to an experimental area at the Extreme Light Infrastructure - Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP). We are also steadily running the laser system for experimental campaigns, increasing the output power levels delivered for experiments and fine-tuning the parameters of the laser pulses, the operational procedures, and the operational teams. During our presentation, we will show the laser developments at ELI-NP emphasizing the 10 PW peak power demonstrations and the latest results for the HPLS beam delivery